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The original was posted on /r/eu4 by /u/HolyKrusade on 2024-03-14 11:16:33.

And it will be HUGE, too. I’ll provide a little Hungarian history lesson of the early 14th century.

Hungary was ruled by its first Anjou king, Charles I. Now he has brought a true Golden Age for Hungary.

Let’s start at the foreign affairs. In 1335, the Hungarian, the Polish and the Czech kings met in the Hungarian town of Visegrád. (This is the historical root of the modern-day V4 group.) They agreed in a new trade route that goes through Prague and avoids Wien, to limit the power of the rising Habsburgs. The Czechs and the Polish made Peace with Bohemia getting Silesia. And most importantly, Hungary and Poland became allies, with even agreeing that if the Polish king dies without heir, the son of Charles, Louis follows him on the throne, which ultimately happened IRL. So, Hungary starts with to powerful allies, and with a possible PU over Poland, which can lead to a possible PU over Lithuania, too.

He had existing dynastic ties, too, as the Anjous came from France (possible PU over Provence and even France), but Charles was originally from Naples. In fact, his younger son (András) married to the queen of Naples, Joanna I, who IRL poisoned him, and as vengeance, the aforementioned Louis attacked Naples and secured a PU for a few years.

And yes, Hungary has had the Croatian PU as well, as it stood since the early 12th century.

Expansion opportunity is plenty towards a fast-changing, fragmented Balkan region and the last remnants of the Rus and the collapsing Golden Horde.

Next, the internalities. Hungary was a largely underdeveloped country until Charles I, despite having a large population, top-class, large potential agriculture, and many precious minerals like salt, copper, silver and even gold, but due to local laws, they couldn’t mine them. Charles issued reforms, which suddenly made Hungary the Nr. 1 gold producer and Nr. 2 silver miner in Europe (after Bohemia). This could prove very useful in a possible European crisis after the Black Death, the Great Buillion Famine. Charles have also issued the first tax in Hungarian history.

His son wasn’t a bad ruler as well. Louis I has almost exhausted the treasury through constant warring (he bribed the Pope, too, lol), but was a famous law giver, had dynastic decisions in hard times (he hadn’t had a son), and was famous for the successful wars.

Possible nerfs for Hungary could include the strong Barons and nobility, who formed leagues around 1400,which eventually became stronger than the king itself (one of them even installed a king who we all know well: the Hunyadi family). The Hungarian insurgent army also entirely relied on them. When the king was warring outside, only some nobles went with him, but when the Kingdom was invaded, they were all obliged to fight. This period of Hungary was also known for constantly changing dynasties that eventually prevented Hungary from growing stronger, though produced some stronger figures also, having the impression that Hungary was a powerhouse and a pawn at the same time (we even call the period of 1301-1526 as the Age of Mixed dynasties).

To sum up, Hungary would be a very interesting start if the 1337 start date would be true.